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Nuggets' Welch, workout wizard

Player development coach takes his work to heart

By Benjamin Hochman The Denver Post

Posted:
10/06/2012 10:42:13 PM MDT

Updated:
10/06/2012 10:42:15 PM MDT

The rising sun is being smothered by night's Iguodala-like defense as the player coasts across the empty road, headed to the Pepsi Center for practice, four hours beforehand. He has an appointment with the wizard.

"It's dark, dark, dark, but I'm going to work," said second-year Nuggets guard Julyan Stone, who after this 7 a.m. private session will practice with the team at 11 -- and then again at 7 p.m. "If you don't love being in the gym, then you have a problem, and I think John Welch loves being in the gym more than anybody on the team."

You don't know John Welch. But he's the Nuggets' secret weapon, a workout wizard, an eternal gym rat, George Karl's consigliere.

Asked to talk about Welch's importance, Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri said: "I don't want to talk about him -- because I don't want any other team to take him. He's the best, he's the best in the NBA, there's no doubt about it. No disrespect to anybody, but he's the best player development coach in the NBA. He takes basketball seriously -- his work, his trade."

Welch, 49, is perpetually peppy. Karl likes to surround his team with the incalculable intangible of energy -- from the strength coach to the power forward -- and Welch doesn't have an off switch.

He's Army intense, but also splashes a sense of humor into his workouts, dry zingers that remind everyone that this basketball thing is fun, even if the sun has set, or hasn't risen yet.

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He has a loving family and a life away from the court, but if one didn't know any better, one would think he sleeps on the Pepsi Center trainer's table, just in case some player stops by at night to work on a midrange jumper.

Welch feeds off these players, of trying to help them improve.

"That's our job and that's the fun part of our job -- how good can they be?" Welch said. "It's not magic. If you put the time in and are going hard, you're going to get better. I appreciate the enthusiasm from our young guys. They want to get better. It's going to be a fun year for us -- everybody is striving to be better."

Welch is a coaching protégé of Jerry Tarkanian's. Welch transferred to UNLV as a senior and then spent seven years as a Tark assistant at Fresno State. Over the years, Welch grew his reputation as a one-on-one workout coach. In a Sports Illustrated piece, Kentucky coach John Calipari called Welch a "Basketball Benny," which isn't actually a thing, but high praise indeed. Fans can catch a glimpse of Welch before games on the Pepsi Center court, sweat soaking his T-shirt as he plays defense like it's Game 7. He pushes whomever he's guarding, figuratively and literally.

"First thing, I hope that when I'm his age, I'll be in that type of shape," Denver forward Danilo Gallinari said. "I haven't seen nothing like that in 24 years of my life. He has more energy than some of the players, he's quicker than some of the players, he can shoot better than some of the players. Maybe they can give him a contract."

So, what actually goes on in these legendary workouts?

"Point guards -- he loves point guards -- he teaches pick-and-roll stuff, angles," Karl said. "And when you defend this particular way, what your options are, what you have to do. The perimeter guys, he works with their footwork to get ready to shoot the ball. And he can handle the big guys very well too. He does big-men footwork drills and catches. What I think he does very well is he takes what I want and incorporates it into his drills and repetition. John and I are very seldom not on the same wavelength."

Stone is Denver's third point guard, but Welch treats each player as though he is the franchise player. If you want to work, Welch will work you. For instance, every day Stone shoots 1,700 shots under the watchful eye of the Basketball Benny.

"He pushes you -- if you do a Welch workout, you know it," said Nuggets forward Corey Brewer, who after Florida played for the Timberwolves and Mavericks. "He's the hardest-working coach I've ever played with. He's there every day, constantly wants to work you out, tries to get you better. And that's what you need when you're a young team, no doubt about that."

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